Warmth
by avatarmerida
Summary: Something I wrote for Royai Week 2016


"Okay, and who first coined the term "equivalent exchange?" asked Riza, reading one of Roy's text books.

"Well, many people would say Thomas Domilera…" began Roy, as he laid on her bed, staring at the ceiling.

"But…?"

"But, the actual answer is his mentor, Gregory Hall," finished Roy, smugly.

"That's right," said Riza with a smile. "Okay, now it's my turn."

"Okay, name all the rulers of Amestris,"

The ritual had been going on the past couple of weeks with great success: rather than doing their homework separately, the two met up in Riza's room to help one another study. This way, they not only gained knowledge on their own assignments, but learned more about what the other was studying as well. And if it meant they spent a little extra time together, so be it.

"And then then most current one is of course-"but before Riza could finish, she was cut off by some ungodly sound. She looked up towards the source, and found it to be Roy, fast asleep. Another time, she could reserve the right to be furious at him for falling asleep while she was talking, but this time she understood. He had been working extra hard to prove himself to her father, and even though she could tell he didn't really have the energy for their late night study sessions, he refused to cancel. She decided she could cut him some slack, just this once.

"Goodnight, mister Mustang," she whispered as she closed her book and rose from the floor. She thought about waking him and moving him back to his room, but he looked so peaceful. She decide not to disturb him and simply covered him with one of her blankets instead. She quietly left the room and turned off the light behind her.

She contemplated going to the living room to finish studying, but it just wasn't as fun without Roy. So she decided to follow his lead and turn in for the night. Seeing as he was occupying her bed it seemed only sensible that she sleep in his for the night. She thought of it as a trade, certainly nothing inappropriate.

Of course his bed wasn't made, the blankets draped off the bed as if he had purposely place them there to get on her nerves. His desk matched, papers skewed all across with no sense of organization whatsoever. She made a mental note to tidy up the scene before she left the following morning, for both their sakes

She slowly made her way into his bed, not really used to being in Roy's room at this hour. She tried to fall asleep instantly, which surprisingly didn't work, as her mind was too focused on the absurdity of the situation. For the last few weeks, she had been noticing something… different between her and Roy. It wasn't anything major, it was just that he often stood a little closer to her than before. And that she didn't really mind.

Maybe it was because she didn't really have too many friends at school or that he was different from any of apprentice her father had ever had before, but she was drawn to him. She couldn't have cared less if her father's past apprentices stuck it out, but she was actively rooting for Roy. He was kind and smart and funny and she found herself looking forward to seeing him. And as she laid in his bed, staring at the same ceiling he stared at every night, she couldn't help but feel grateful. The bed smelled just like him and was covered in crumpled papers which were covered in scrawling she didn't understand. It was so surreal to her to think that anyone else had or would occupy this bed, this room. This heart.

Despite the lumpiness of the mattress, she made herself comfortable and quickly fell asleep. She didn't expect anything to wake her other than the sun shining through Roy's window. Needless to say, she was surprised to be awakened by something rubbing against her shoulder.

As she drowsily rolled over in response, she was shocked to say the least when her half opened eyes found Roy laying beside her. She could feel her face turn red as his was so drastically close. She held her breath as she listened to his, calm and steady with a hint of a snore. She thought of making a graceful exit, but he laid between her and the door and she couldn't see a way out without waking him. So she decided to skip the awkward part, well, as much as possible.

"Roy," she whispered, trying to put as much space between them as possible but her back was already against the wall. "Roy."

His face flinched but he did not stir. How could she forget what a heavy sleeper he was? She reached out and gently shook him. "Roy?" she whispered again slightly louder.

Still, he did not stir. She didn't want to risk raising her voice any louder, lest she get her father's attention, so instead she moved closer. "Roy! Wake up!"

His eyes slowly opened, as he was usually slow in the mornings. But as soon as she saw her, staring at him with concerned eyes, he had no issue fighting off the sleep. "Ri-!" he started to exclaim, but she quickly covered his mouth.

"Shh," she insisted. "I'm gonna take my hand away, but you have to promise to be quiet." He nodded.

"What are you doing here?" he asked quietly.

"Well, you fell asleep in my bed so I thought the logical thing would be for me to go sleep in your bed," she answered in a frantic whisper.

"Um, yeah, okay, sure," whispered nervously. "So, uh…"

"I'll just go back to my own room now," she said tensely, avoiding his gaze. "I just need you to, uh…"

"Oh yeah, of course!" he went to rise from his bed, but instead flopped rather ungracefully onto the floor. She gave him a tiny nod as she released herself from his comforter and tried to make her way towards the door more gracefully then he had made his way out of the bed. But as soon as she opned the door, she closed it.

"What's wrong?" asked Roy.

"Um," she began. "My father is back."

Though the room was dark, she could tell his face dropped. Her father's study was located directly across from the room Roy stayed in. She certainly couldn't make her way out the door without catching his attention, a bunch of unanswerable questions, and possible causing him to kick Roy out.

"Okay, so you stay here and I'll sleep in your room," said Roy.

"Then my father's gonna wonder why you went towards my room and never came back."

"Fair point," agreed Roy. "So, you can just sleep in my bed and I'll sleep on the floor."

"No, no, it's your bed," she insisted. "And you really deserve a good night's rest, let me sleep on the floor."

"No way," he said. "This… situation is kind of my fault, let me sleep on the floor."

"Okay, listen," she began, worried the volume would increase too much if they kept talking. "Obviously, neither of us is willing to let the other one sleep on the floor, so we'll just share your bed."

"Yeah, okay…" said Roy, trying to act cooler than he felt. "That, that sounds good. Okay, we can do that."

"We'll just both platonically sleep at the edges of the bed, as friends," she stated. "And as soon as my father leaves, I'll head out. It's nothing, ya know, nothing…"

"Yeah, yeah it's definitely nothing!" spat Roy. "We're just two friends, sleeping together. But not _sleeping_ together, in the same bed. It's not even a very nice bed. I mean, it's a good bed. But only for sleeping. Which is all we're doing."

"Right, right," both of them were failing to conceal their nerves. She heard the bed creak as Roy climbed in, he took her former place with his back pressed against the wall. She sat on the side of the bed before lifting her feet and laying down on the edge of the bed, her balance being the only thing preventing her from falling off.

"Are you comfortable?" asked Roy in a low voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she answered swiftly.

"Okay, well… good night,"  
"Good night." Despite how exhausted she was, she didn't think she would sleep at all.

But she did.

She woke up slowly to the sounds of birds chirping. She never heard the birds so clearly before and thought it odd at first, but then she remembered the odd circumstances of the previous night. She looked around and saw the way the light poured in through Roy's small window, it hit the pieces of paper that littered the ground as if it was writing on them in sunbeams. She smiled, feeling comfortable and warm.

 _I can see why he has such a hard time waking up in the morning_ , she thought. _His bed is so relaxing, I feel as though I could lay here forever._

But she knew she had to leave. She went to lift her head from her pillow, but just as she did she felt it rise. Confused, she lifted her head and say she had been resting on Roy's chest. She inhaled sharply and brought her hand to her mouth as she attempted to move, but failed. She was slightly weighed down by his arm on her back. She feared that if she attempted to move it, she'd wake him and they'd find themselves in another awkward situation.

She didn't want to embarrass him, so she decided to fix the problem… later. They could sleep for a few more hours, and then she'd make her way back to her side of the bed. She gently placed her head back on his chest and closed her eyes. She would let him address the situation when he woke up. She listened to the gentle rhythm of him breathing, letting the beat lull her back to sleep.

Roy looked down at her with one eye and smiled as she closed her eyes. He smoothly moved closer to her as her allowed the comfort of the moment to lure him back to the best night's sleep he'd ever had.


End file.
